Just Take Me With You, I have Nowhere Else To Go! - HanselxOC
by ALostWinchester
Summary: I've been a witch's slave since I was eight years old, so now I'm free I didn't want to settle and live a normal life! The girl is looking to be as annoying as Ben was when he started out, but then Gretel likes having some female company - surprisingly - and Ben likes having someone to talk to about the girl he likes, and Hansel just likes the girl.
1. Chapter 1

When I was small, my parents had to leave me with their brother and his wife to fight in the war. I don't think anyone knows what it's about; it's all shadows, mirrors and secrets but people know it's happening. When they left, I told myself they'd come back dispite the fact that deep down I knew they wouldn't. I tried to be a good neice but I guess I ever stopped wondering what happened to my parents; they were all I could think about. So I spent a lot of time in a dream, and it was frustrating for my guardians.

So when the witch stole their precious son, my spoiled little cousin, I was offered as a trade. I was eight, thin and as far as the witch could tell as good as any six year old boy if fed enough. So she traded, and a witch must honor her trades. Only trouble was I just couldn't get fat. She fed me and fed me and fed me but I could only ever fit in a little foor before I threw it all up. For fifteen years I remained essentially a vegetable, only capable of forming my own words. Everything else she made me do; I was a puppet.

The day Hansel and Gretel arrive I was shouting at her, calling her an old cow and a greedy beady-eyed, souless black hole as I walked out the house, carrying a basket of fresh child bones. The pair were horrified but I couldn't do much about it. I put the basket by the well, dragged up the pucket by its rope, and sat, cleaning the bones she had fed on the night before.

They both pointed guns at me.

"Shoot if you want I can't run." I snapped.

"Who are you?" Gretel commanded.

I couldn't answer; I didn't remember. "The hag in the house calls me girl. You might as well too."

"Are those children's bones?" she asked, horror rising in her throat.

"Yes." I said carefully; it was hard to admit. I'd rather forget. Not just what I was doing but every child I'd watch die. She'd make me sit in the corner. I was helpless.

"Did you have anything to do with-"

"No I cut her off. Ask the village; I'm the ragdoll; the harmless slave traded to the witch." A tear escapped my eye and all I could do was let it fall. All I could ever do is let it fall.

"I've never heard anything like this before." Hansel muttered to his sister.

"She's in the house, if you want to kill me go for it; I've been dead since she got me, just hurry up and kill her."

Since I never gained weight I was never freed from my suffering. I'd tried to bite my tongue before, insult her until she killed me but there was nothing else I could do, and neither of those ever worked. So she kept me a slave, in case she needed someone to die for her I suppose. Fifteen years was a lifetime of hell for me, but witches live a long time; I was just a blip in her life; a pet.

The brother and sister I had dreamed of coming to free me for so long hesitated. _Hurry up_, I begged. In heinsight I was lucky they didn't kill me. At the time it was the only way out I ever saw.

She screamed, she ran. They fired a few guns, they ran after her. I heard the fighting in the distance as they danced the dance of cat and mouse until all of a sudden a weight I'd never realised was there lifted off of me.

My hands stopped scrubbing the bones.

Like it was instinct, I pushed my hands against the basket and bucket, stretching my arms out and lifting myself to my feet. The basket and bucket clattered down the well and the strangest sensation made its way up and out of my body.

Laughter.

Great bursts of laughter that brought tears along with them. I was free. I wanted to dance but it had been so long since I controlled my own muscles that after one step I fell.

It was hysterical.

I lay on the grass, laughing until I couldn't laugh anymore. I held my hands up in front of myface and marveled at the sensation. Wriggling my fingers was so liberating!

I didn't hear the footsteps; I was pretty distracted. Hands slipped under my shoulders and pulled me to my feet. Gretel, her hair now disshevelled and her green leather attire sporting grass stains and blood stains, pulled at my cheeks, twisted my head side to side and put her fingers in my mouth. I wriggled away from her.

"Do you mind?"

"Not a witch." she reported, past my face to her brother. He dropped me and I fell. The pair stood next to each other and just looked down at me. I may have been laughing a little excessively.

"I think she needs a doctor." Hansel observed.

"She looks healthy enough to me." Gretel replied.

"Not that kind of doctor." he explained.

"Ben could take a look at her." she suggested.

"He's not a doctor."

"She's been living with a witch, he'll want to talk to her first."

Hansel sighed and turned to walk away, conceding to his sister's arguement. Gretel outstretched her hand to me, I was now silently listening to their conversation. I took it and she pulled me to my feet, hooking my arm over her neck and her arm around my waist. As we walked, I said something to her more sincerely than I had ever uttered a word in my life,

"Thank you."

She didn't look at me, but she looked ahead, smiling.


	2. Chapter 2

I lasted a week in my own village. Hansel and Gretel didn't stay long, but Ben and I talked a lot in that time and he has since always sent me letters asking questions about life with a witch. I was subjected to days of bed rest, punctuated by a wash here, a meal there, a bout of uncontrollable vomiting from eating real food, and painstakingly learning how to make my body move as I wished. The midwife and her family were lovely (I was essentially a new born) but outside of that family I was met with cold curiosity and fear. I lived with a witch for twelve years. People came up with their own lies about how I survived. I fled as soon as I was ready.

The village I fled to was called Phoenic, which I felt fitting since I was rising from the ashes of non existence. The people there knew nothing of me, and I took on the Persian name Bano, meaning Lady. I was a Lady now. Not girl, or scum or dog – I was my own Lady in my own right.

But I couldn't escape my past. Witches are everywhere. This witch of Phoenic was a particularly nasty shade of evil. The village buzzed with the news. A young boy was turned mad. Vomiting black ooze, and speaking with multiple voices – and the eyes. His eyes were a pustious yellow shade of pure evil. As I listened to the man telling the tale, placing the fish I'd just bought into my wicker basket for me, the second child was infected. There was a scream from his mother behind me, and I turned as black ooze flew from his mouth and splattered to the ground – splash back hit the skirt of my dress. His mother crouched beside him to hold his shoulders, and I crouched in front of him and tried to see if he was alright. His head was bowed. His shoulders began to shake and his head snapped up, a devil's grin on his face. The old man had been accurate with his description. I held those eyes and it lost the amusement on its face. It shrieked at me. I say 'it' because that was not the young boy.

"Wh-What's going on?" his mother sobbed. I rose to my feet.

"Madam," I said carefully, keeping my eyes on the boy's, "I'm afraid your son has fallen prey to witchcraft."

All the onlookers gasped at once. His mother shrieked her own pain and tried to clutch the boy. Black vomit drenched one side of her dress.

"What will I do?" she begged me.

I didn't know, but from that moment to the instant night fell, eight children were sick and I was spear-heading the organisation of beds for them in the church for the night. The eyes threw people. The children were wild and frightful but if I held their eyes long enough, they conceded and behaved for a time. It was nice to feel useful but I was out of my depth. I looked to the last letter Ben had sent me, and prayed the letter I would send would reach him before he, Hansel and Gretel moved on.


	3. Chapter 3

I was relieved to see them. Three days had passed since my letter was sent, and the surviving children and their families had fled Phoenic. Some were forced to return with sick children. All in all, we were at a loss.

"I've never seen anything like this." Gretel commented, coming away from the bedside of one of the children.

"They don't sleep," I began, "they eat rats and cats and spiders only, and I know none of them have died yet but I know witchcraft as you do too, and its only a matter of time."

With my arms folded, I turned and she followed me out of the door. I heard a footstep. I turned as one little girl ferociously eyed Gretel who twisted as soon as I did. With my gaze locked with the child's, I walked her back until I could close and lock the door.

"This is bad." She sighed to her brother who had left after giving the scene behind us a glance over.

"Why do this? Why kill off dinner?" Hansel speculated. Ben looked at me with hope I dismissed with a short shaking of my head. I didn't have any answers this time.

"Shall we discuss this over something to eat?" I suggested, "I've been sleeping and eating here so there's food ready to be made."

They all perked up and I saw how tired they were. They'd travelled hard to get to us in good time. Too bad it might still be too late.

Dinner was a fruitless exorcise for thought and I suggested we take turns to watch the children through the night. I'd been doing it all on my own for days and I couldn't keep aware of every tiny movement much longer. I took the first watch to get the longest sleep I could afterwards, and Ben kindly relieved me of my burden some time around midnight.

Perfect.

I needed someone who could help me with those kids, yes, but I really needed someone to give me time enough to conjure a witch. Once I could walk and talk and take care of myself, I needed to go back to that witches cabin. It had been all I'd known for so long, that to leave without proper farewell felt like a failing on my part as a human being. It wasn't the location's fault I was raised in misery. So as I walked through the now empty hollow in the ground I had called home, I came across the witch's book. I took it to bury it but something told me I would need it one day. I knew it was sewn of evil and that I should have listened to sense over my instincts but...

I took it with me. So I stood in the pitch black forest, my lantern the only light being cast, and stood in the string circle I'd made to cast my spell. I understand a good witch and a bad witch – they are gifted. I am neither. Some magic doesn't need to be channelled through someone with a gift. A well performed summoning works just fine without a witch being at the centre. I can only guess that's because of the nature of a summoning; there's no direct effect to magic or the natural world. My circle was made of strong branches I'd broken from the trees moments ago – the fresher the more powerful my spell. I wrapped pure cotton threads around the branches and plunged them into the ground to create my circle.

I stepped inside. Opened the book. Inhaled deeply.


	4. Chapter 4

The witch wasn't quite like my witch. She had tree branches for hair, one eye was replaced with a snail's shell, and her legs were reminiscent of a deer's but fur-less. The only similar thing was the dress; a dishevelled mountain of rags and ties that blended seamlessly into the shadows. She smelled like rot. I did not miss that smell.

"How dare you –"

"Close your mouth you old crow until I speak." I snapped. Her head jerked back.

"When you get out of that circle," she growled, "I'll lift you from the ground and drop you a great height."

"I look forward to the attempt. Until then why –"

A bang caused us both to jump, and I was quickly pulled out of my circle. Ben was dragging me away from it and I tried to firstly escape his grasp. When that didn't work I tried to talk to him. He ignored me. So I ran a little faster and kicked his feet out from under him. It wasn't easy but I managed it. I stumbled then fell into a tumble. I recovered in enough time to get away from Ben trying to catch me again, and sprinted to the circle. He was hot on my heels. Hansel and Gretel were firing weapons the likes of I had never seen before. They brushed past me, after the witch, and each turned with the same facial expression of confusion and concern. There was no time for them to stray from the pursuit of their witch. I kept running.

At first I thought I'd fallen; the way the earth suddenly moved and my head felt like it had been caught in a hedge. But then the wind didn't stop, my scalp burned as it carried my weight, and I could hear Hansel, Gretel and Ben below shouting their protest and anguish. I lifted my hands to support my head, and cling onto whatever clung to my hair.

The pain took over.

I woke up and forgot the moment I was saved, the pressure that had been lifted from my bones, and the children that were dying of poison. It was like I'd never been free.

Then the witch before my eyes wasn't my witch at all. And her hole wasn't my home. She gripped my face in one hand and shrieked at me.

"Oh for the love of –"I began, the stench suffocating me. She cut me off by readjusting the position of her hand and squeezing my throat. I croaked out, "I thought you were going to drop me a great height."

"I've met many souls who think they can convince me they're not afraid of me. If I were you – I'd save my breath."

Her voice was like stones being tossed onto more stones being spoken through a waterfall. Yes, I was afraid, but I was angry too. Angry for all of the torment I endured while under that curse and that roof for all those years. Still, that didn't stop my screaming.


	5. Chapter 5

This time, when Hansel and Gretel saved me, I was truly wishing to die. I'd spent three days with thorns binding my wrists, and my legs in a pond. I knelt down in it, surrendering to the biting cold and the vines around my neck, keeping me from lying down or leaving. The witch had drawn my blood, cutting into muscle and leaving me looking like a pine cone along my arms, my legs, the left side of my face. Insects were beginning to go for the open wounds. Sometimes I panicked and began to shriek, even tried to hang myself but I'd pass out and just dangle until discomfort woke me again.

Worst of all I was blindfolded. Every sound of the forest brought terror to my heart, building to such a pressure that I wished it would give up and stop beating. So Gretel's touch made me jerk and whimper in fright. Her voice reduced me to tears.

"No one's looking, let's get you out of these bloody clothes."

She removed the blindfold and my bonds, held a blanket out for me, her arms stretched wide and hid me as I peeled away my sodden clothes, tried to wipe insects and bark and more off my tender skin and pretend it wasn't reality. I could barely walk. I wasn't sure if I was grateful they had come for me. I just wanted to be buried for good already.

Getting back to my home was awkward until I fell asleep. Someone carried me to my bed and called for a doctor. I was so exhausted I didn't want to eat, and as much as I could feel the cleaning of my wounds and my skin being sewn back into place, I didn't have the energy to express the agony I endured. The entire time, I noticed either Hansel or Gretel watched over me by the door, their faces a stern expression of judgement. One day I woke up and Hansel was hovering in the doorframe.

"I'm surprised you're capable of such patience." I grumbled before beginning to cough. I sat myself up and felt blood leave some of my stitched up gashes. He disappeared and reappeared with a glass of water. I took it, thanking him. Then he dropped the witch's book on the bedside table.

"Where did you get that?" he said quietly. I eyed it and moved my hand to pick it up. He placed his own hand over it, keeping me away from it.

"The place we first met, Hansel." I answered, incapable of conveying anything but how tired I was. I didn't care how it sounded; I didn't pay attention.

"You didn't leave with it."

"I went back before I left the village. I was feeling nostalgic."

"Why did you pick up that book?" he asked, leaning down over me, trying to be foreboding. I was too tired to react accordingly.

"Just in case I needed it."

"To contact other witches?" he spat, moving away from me.

"I didn't plan to use it for that –"

"Then what were you doing out-"

"Children are dying!" I boomed, suddenly angry enough to crawl out of my cage. "Not just one or two, but all of them. This town will have no one to keep it going. It will simply cease to exist and I knew a way to ask why."

"What made you think she would tell you anything?" Hansel boomed back.

"What made you think I was working with her?" I returned, feeling light headed from the force of my bellow.

"You –" he cut his self off. He moved closer. "You look those kids in the eye and they shut up. They back off."

"Have you tried it?" I panted, "Because I think no one is brave enough to look them in the eye. I think people don't want to look at horror they way I have."

"I know what you saw was –"

"You don't know anything." I sighed. "You walk in at the end, or interrupt and you can do something about it. I sat on a stool and watched her kill..." My voice broke. Tears fell and I just stopped talking. I didn't want to see Hansel's face. After several minutes of silence he left.


	6. Chapter 6

The first time I woke up after that conversation, the book was gone. I worried it was in the wrong hands, but I knew it wasn't likely; not with Hansel and Gretel around. It took three days for me to get out of bed, and the first thing I did was check on those kids.

"There are more." I sighed to Gretel as I emerged.

"You shouldn't be out of bed." She stated.

"I shouldn't have been forced out of the circle stopping the witch getting me at all." I snapped. After five days in a bed, I did more thinking than I've ever subjected myself to. I went to dark places and cam out a few shades darker myself.

"Witch craft has a price."

"And this wasn't the one I was planning on paying. I asked you to watch those kids not me."

I tried to walk away, but Gretel gently placed a hand on my arm. She graced a wound and it took her a minute to speak, "You brought us here."

I carried on as if she hadn't said a thing.

Hansel found me in a valley, a stone's throw away from the edge of the village. I sat on a large rock that seemed to have been picked up and left there by a giant, and looked at the thin, gurgling stream that ran into a thicker stream the village used as a water source further down.

"Not casting any spells are you?" he asked, trying to be funny but only hurting my feelings.

"If I could I wouldn't be doing it here." I sighed.

"I don't think you're a witch." He admitted, but I was still in pain. "I can't be too careful though. I don't like the idea of you being..."

"Vile?" I guessed. "If I was a witch I wouldn't kill my meat." It hurt to speak of them that way. I corrected myself, "This village won't have any children soon. And I know two things that will happen when they're gone. Neither of them are a lesser of two evils."

Hansel took a long minute before speaking, "I only ever thought of you as that girl we found delirious at being freed from a witch. I always worried you were... I worried you had been corrupted. I thought of you as naive and stupid."

I met his gaze, unsurprised by his judgement of me. I'd always known he looked down on me, and I'd also known he didn't understand what it was like to be freed from that existence I was trapped in. No one did.

"Yet," he carried on, "Here you are protecting children this village would otherwise cast out and give up on. It's very admirable, and unsettling to see that I was... wrong."

"What a long winded way of saying you're sorry." I smiled, my cold darkness thawing out at last.

"Maybe." He suggested with a half smirk.

"Maybe." I grinned. I soon followed it with a sigh. "This is where the children would play."

Hansel and I shared a period of mourning silence before he rose from his seat and offered his hand to me.

"We'll fix hit." He promised, and I believed him.


	7. Chapter 8

I held on to the screaming mother in my arms for dear life. She clutched at my arm, the collar of my dress and we sank to the floor together. I didn't want her to be in this much pain and be concussed from a fall to the stone floor of the church. Hansel, Ben and Gretel came running and paused five feet away from us.

"How many?" Gretel asked calmly.

"Just one." I replied over the wails of despair. The children began to make their own howls and noises. I wrenched myself away from her, opened the door to the noise and closed it behind me. I'm sure they heard my growls from outside, demanding silence or else I would toss them all into a bath. I'd learned water and soap repelled them. Silence reined after several minutes. I re-emerged from the door, closed it behind me, and sank, with my back against the door to my knees. I buried my head in my hands.

I noticed on my way down, Gretel and the boy's mother were gone. Hansel walked over to me, and sat next to me.

"Go with Gretel, Ben." Hansel commanded. He turned to leave then pivoted back around.

"Hansel where is the book?"

"I'll get it to you later."

"We don't have time for that." Ben insisted softly. Hansel took a minute, sighed and asked,

"Why is it so urgent? I don't want you raising circles."

"I have a theory."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I don't want to say until I can prove it." Ben replied. I snapped my head up.

"We don't have time for that."

"Relax." Hansel insisted, placing his hand on my knee. "Let's all go and look at the book. Ben, you get Gretel and meet us at Bano's cottege."

Ben jogged ahead and Hansel and I stood together. He took my hand to help me up, and held onto it. I could have cried for just knowing I had a friend in this world.

We poured over each page. I couldn't read but witches like their pictures, so while the three Witch Hunters stood huddled at one side of the table, I stood solitarily at the other, studying the images intensely. They reached the last page. Nothing.

"What do we know?" Gretel started, folding her arms and beginning to pace in the space made by Hansel leaning over the table and Ben sitting on a chair. Hansel and I held gazes. It was both unnerving and comforting and if what I was feeling was anything to go by, it was difficult for either of us to make up our minds about breaking the gaze.

"Kids are getting mysteriously sick."

"The first one died." I added.

"Was he the first kid to be infected?" Hansel asked.

"No." I replied.

"So why him?" Ben asked.

"How healthy was he?" Gretel asked me.

"Thin. Usually sick according to his mother. That's why it took her so long to bring him to us." I replied.

"But her was one of the first to be infected?" Hansel asked.

"Yes."

"So the kids do have a time limit, depending on their health." Gretel concluded.

"Maybe." Ben added.

"And we're sure a witch did it?" she pressed on.

"We could have been." I growled. Everyone shifted a little in their position. "Did you kill the witch?"

"Yes." Hansel replied.

"Then why are the kids still sick?" no one had an answer. I sighed and sat down, "Then it wasn't her."

"Maybe its just a disease." Ben ventured.

"No." I said definitely. "I know a curse when I see it."

"Then what's the point in it?" Hansel sighed.

And that was the last thing we said for hours. We remained in my small cottage, seated and thinking. I could feel Hansel's eyes trained on me as I worked my own way through the witch's book, having my own flash backs to the things she put me through. I must have fallen asleep. I was back in my old hole in the ground, a chorus of children screaming to my right as my witch fed the fire. I was coughing up vile black mucus by the gallon to the floor. The kid's weren't much better. My witch came to me. She shoved a wooden cup at my face and tilted its contents into my mouth. I watched her becoming greener as I stopped retching.

"What can I say, pet, I like having you around." She gurgled through the black vomit. I watched her approach the table her book lay on. Move to the cage full of children and pull a handful of hair from her recent kidnap. This one wasn't ill. Not until she moved to the book, crushed the hair in a bowl with a variation of other agreements and called out a spell to the fire in her pit. When she turned, she was herself again, no longer ill. The little girl was though, and the witch fed each sick kid into the fire. She didn't eat these ones. She didn't let me handle them either. She put them in a pouch and left for three days.

I woke to a start. I was sweating and Hansel held my shoulders gently. Gretel knelt to me with a mug of water.

"I know what's happening!" I gasped.


	8. Chapter 9

"So how do we reverse it?" Gretel sighed, knowing that he powers as a white witch could do it, if she only knew how.

"When she was sick, she put it onto me; she would have burned me too. But she gave me something to drink which passed it back to her until she cast it onto... someone else."

We were talking by candle light now, and it felt claustrophobic for me.

"Our sick witch is a dead witch now." Hansel pointed out.

"I think we have to consider the possibility that we can't save anyone here." Ben voiced the thoughts of everyone in the room.

"Burn them." I simplified.

"How do we pull that off? We can't afford that kind of horror over our heads – no on will hire us." Gretel stated.

"I can." I suggested, hating the knowledge I was going to have to leave again.

"Bano we can't ask you to," Hansel started but I stopped him with a sad smile as I said,

"Yes you can. You have to." I moved away from the table and grabbed my coat. Before I left the cottage I held my hands out and asked, "Give me the book."

None of the moved. It took a while but Hansel lifted it from the table and paced to me. He understood.

"Meet us four miles north. We used a secluded house there for a night. I'll come find you."

He said it all in hushed tones, with such intensity that I felt myself wishing to lean forward. Instead I too the book from his hands and turned to leave them behind.

"What's going on Hansel?" I heard Gretel ask her brother as I walked. I didn't hear his explanation, but I hoped it was accurate.

I sent Edward to Gretel and company. With a huff of suspicion and a glance at the book in my wicker basket (along with the gun powder barrel to my left and stone flints in my basket) he did as he was asked. I left the barrel outside and went in to relive one of the Sisters from her post. She assured me no one was in, and she would pray for me. I told her not to be silly, but deep down I needed it.

I made sure the lock was secure on the door the children resided behind. I removed the book and my cloak, and left them near the basked. I pressed my forehead to the door of the children and made a silent apology before moving to the rest of my task. I poured the gunpowder through the inside of the building, and rolled the barrel around the outside of the building. I set it alight and walked away.


	9. Chapter 10

Days passed. My wounds healed to scabs and I pulled free as many stitches as I could reach. I lived off of soups and teas made up of water from a stream a good hour's walk away, and the wildlife that was creeping into the house. The nights were cold and I feared I'd been forgotten about until, as I dragged water back from the stream to the house, I found Hansel leaving the house having searched for me.

"Hansel!" I called to him, my smile unable to be controlled. I picked up my pace, and he jogged over to me, taking the buckets from me and easing the strain of my muscles.

"How are you?" he smiled at me.

"Cold and sore. Where is everyone?"

He had come alone, which both worried and excited me.

"They're still in the village. It will take time to get them on the mend."

"Of course. Why didn't you stay?"

We neared the house and he put down the pails of water to tap a bulging bag he had on the floor. Blankets and clothes were inside and he smiled,

"I couldn't let you die out here of the cold."

"I can't tell you how grateful I am."

"Make me dinner. That will be thanks enough." He said and walked away.

"Where are you going?" I called to him.

"To hunt dinner." He called back. I'll admit it; I swooned. I felt like a new person again, free of the weight of someone else's evil.

The man came back with a fucking dear. Please excuse my language but I was expecting a rabbit or two at most. We skinned, chopped and hung the meat over the embers of the fire inside to smoke it, and kept enough left to cook in a stew. Hansel set up a fire outside and lay a rug on the grass for us to sit on. I'm naive of many things, but men aren't one of them. When I was freed for the first time, I saw no reason to act as though my life was a precious gift for someone else – it was a curse I would endure for a very short time.

But Hansel didn't make life look like a curse. Yes he had his injection and timer, and he chased monsters no sane person chased. But there was that quiet smile he gave her.

"Thank you for the deer. And the help. And the continual, if not always necessary, rescues." I sighed, casting my basket of food aside. As I turned around again, he was ducking towards my face, a hand coming to rest on my cheek. I met him half way. I pressed my lips against his and relaxed as his hand slipped through my hair, holding my very skull. When we pulled away, he looked into my eyes and I looked back, waiting for the next move; his or mine. He kissed me again, pivoting my shoulders and pushing me back onto the grass. I followed his direction and he carefully leaned across me. I'd been carrying pails of water to and from that house for two hours every day. I didn't need someone to be gentle, so I pulled him towards me so I could straddle him. His eyes almost popped out of his head but he didn't stop smiling.

"I thought you..."

"Hansel." I said, lowering one eyebrow and raising the other significantly. He reached up for my neck and pulled me towards him. His kiss was passionate and I almost forgot I had all the power from where I knelt. I undid his trousers. Once loose, he spun us both, making me laugh out loud. He kneeled with my legs either side of him, and pulled my hips to his. I reached for the ties of my corset, but he moved my hands aside. He started pulling free the bonds that held me, patience fading as he reached the last pull of fabric. As he pushed the fabrics I wore over my shoulders, exposing my breasts and naval, I unzipped his jacket. He moved back from me to remove his armour and in seconds only his trousers and boots remained on him, while I wriggled free of my sleeved.

He crawled to me, pinning my skirts to the ground and leading me as we kissed, out of my dress. He moved away from my lips but moved closer towards me, kissing my scarred skin as he pulled himself free of his own clothes. I moved him to the ground and kissed his shoulder, his chest, his stomach. I enveloped his sex with my mouth for only a few seconds and crawled over him, so my hips were in line with his. He placed his hands on my hips and places me over him, entering me slowly, deliberately. He moved me, and I couldn't help arching my back with bliss, moving as he dictated.

It was perfect. Each movement was wordless and fluid, each sound was pure and honest. I half wished I would die then and there so I could know nothing else but that feeling he gave me. When he was ready, and I was aching for release in a way I had never experienced before. He pinned me to the ground, and gracelessly pounded his hips into me until there was nothing left in him to give. He lay next to me and I felt whole.


	10. Chapter 11

"So what happened?" I asked now that nightfall was upon us. Hansel and I had performed sex together as the sky began to darken, and only moments after our union was the sky awash with stars.

"The building burned. The children were given peace," he laced his fingers between mine, "But the village... The things people say –"

"Did they say I was a witch after all?"

"Worse. They said you were mad and took away any hope of them having their children again."

I appreciated his honesty but I still had to sit up; I felt sick. He moved to press his back against mine and kiss my shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Don't be." I replied. "Where can I go?"

"You could stay here?"

"It's too run down. I could fix it but I doubt I would survive very long – "

"Then I'll fix it; I'll make it so you don't need to leave." He rested his chin on my shoulder and stroked my naked skin.

"Why would I stay? Once you go, there's nothing here for me."

"Maybe I won't go."

It was sweet but I knew, "Yes you will."

"I can't do this forever and I've no intention to get killed by a witch."

"Yet you want me to stay here with bated breath for you?"

"I didn't realise you were so unaffected by everything." Hansel said coldly, moving away from me and pulling on his clothes. I had no idea what I wanted to say to him, but I let him go without a word and turned to the house. The sky was almost black.

Upon his return he crawled into bed behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and I moulded against his frame.

"I once had a lover," he said quietly, "And she died fighting the worst witch I've ever faced. I wished I'd said more to her, done more with her. I wished I'd tried to stay with her."

"I won't be a surrogate, Hansel."

"You're no surrogate." He said, leaning on his elbow to look at me. "Bano, you've brought me out of Witch Hunting for a second. You've taken all the ugly and cast it aside for a time. I'm sorry to be selfish, but I want to be able to return to that; come home to that."

"And I want a life with more than one person Hansel," I sighed, "I want freedom. I will risk evil crossing my path a third time for that."

"Or you could stay here, where it's safe." Hansel sighed, lying on his back. I remained on my side.

"Safe is a state of mind, Hansel. Living as the lonely woman in the woods is not safe. Go to sleep."

Silence wrapped around us like a snake –heavy and alien. When I woke in the morning, he was gone and I wasn't sure if I was happy about that or not. I carried on with my day as normally as I could, my mind plagued with thoughts of Hansel and I. Later on in the day, Gretel, Ben and Edward appeared.

"Where's Hansel?" Ben asked, looking disappointed.

"I thought he was with you." I replied, embracing them each in turn.

"He left before we did to come here." Gretel added, sounding concerned.

"He was here but he wasn't when I woke up. I assumed he returned to the village."

"I highly doubt that." She sighed looking to Ben significantly.

"Why?" The look between them revealed more than I could translate, but enough to know I was involved.

"Hansel ended up in a fight, for you." Gretel said, her shoulders square and her jaw set in a way that told me she blamed me.

"He shouldn't have done that." I commented, looking to Ben for help. He obliged,

"They started calling you the witch and Hansel snapped. The guy was a mess after. Edward separated them but he gave me a hard shove as he fled the village."

I sighed. "Then he'll be back, right? Come inside, when did you last eat?"

They followed me to the run down house and we said little as the sky grew heavier with sunset.

"Maybe we could look for him." Ben offered eventually.

"Hansel won't want to be found." His sister explained. She glanced at me with anger still and I decided the Witch Hunters needed time on their own.

"I need some air." I said and stood to leave. I walked aimlessly through the clearing, my heart in my throat and my stomach tense with worry that Hansel had got himself into trouble. It wasn't likely but what if he had? What if he needed help? I explored these thoughts as carefully as I could but as soon as they threatened to overwhelm me, I turned them off. I had to.

"Bano!" Bens voice was very far away. "Bano!"

His call was urgent and I raced to the house again. He saw me some yards from the house and jogged ahead to the fight scene between Gretel and Hansel. I stood by Edward who gave me an annoyed glance down, and tried to figure out what the siblings were fighting about.

Eventually Hansel stayed down.

"Fine!" Gretel barked. "Fucking stay!"

She stormed past me, throwing me a look that could kill, into the woods. Edwards turned and followed. Ben looked between them.

"You go to Gretel, I'll handle him." I instructed and Ben jogged off, calling Gretel's name. I walked to Hansel, who was now sitting up.

"I hate letting her think she's won."

"I thought you would hate fighting with her."

"Then there's that." He said as I pulled him up by the hand.

"What were you fighting about?"

"I want to stay here with you."

"I don't want to –"

"Look, I've done a lot of thinking today, and it won't kill you to stay here with me for a time."

I ground my jaw. His persistence was both flattering and infuriating. "Go on."

"I've got two options in life; witch hunting and a normal life. I've hunted witches for so long that I can safely say I've done my fair share of fighting. I haven't even tried to be normal – something I've only recently been even remotely interested in. I can imagine moving on from here and you getting on with your life, but I prefer the idea that I'm here and you're here – and someone is around to keep you out of trouble."

"I don't need protecting – I'm not dead."

"You didn't see your broken body!" He barked. "You apparently don't see the scars!"

"Hansel-"

"Why doesn't it matter to you that I care?"

"Hansel-"

"Jesus after everything I've been through I've got cold, but you –"

"Enough!" I shrieked. "Enough Hansel, this isn't going to work. Thank you for the provisions but I'm leaving. Do what you like."

I felt sick as I walked to the house, packed some morsels of food and a change of clothes and started walking. I knew of one place I could rest near the water, which would allow me to spend the next day travelling to anywhere. Edward saw me as I walked through the forest, the moon barely lighting my way, and cast me a hateful or maybe uncaring glance as I walked by. He let me go unnoticed and I was grateful; my heart was breaking.


	11. Chapter 12

That bastard Hansel managed to get under my skin. I tried – I really tried to integrate into Sohn, a nice little Hamlet, but I couldn't bring myself to stop thinking of him. At first it was because I was lonely, and the pain from our last encounter was still fresh. I decided to leave when if became apparent it was not me the people didn't like: it was the extent of my scars.

I fled back to the house in the woods, half hoping he was there, half planning to commit suicide. All thoughts were shattered as I saw the house, looking repaired yet abandoned. There was a chance someone lived there and I investigated carefully. Days became weeks and I concluded it was my house now. I learned to find peace in the loneliness there; I had been lonely in Sohn but the people were close enough to touch and it only gave me more heartache.

I often fantasised of what could have been, and what was probably impossible. I spent hours laying on the grass and envisioning how my life would be if I had accepted Hansel's offer to remain with solely him. I started working further back; if I'd never been interrupted summoning the witch; If I had chosen not to summon the witch; if I'd chosen not to help the children; if I chose a different village; if I had never been given to the witch; if I had never been abandoned by my parents to fight in that stupid war.

I had it all planned. The poison mushrooms were simmering in a pot over the fire in the house, and I was going to swim in the water a last time before I left. There are times when I believe that a demon follows me, drawing misfortune, bad luck and witches towards me; trying to kill me. I had settled that it had won, and I was giving in after some twenty years of surviving.

I walked to the stream and heard an animal. I made as much noise as possible trying to shoo it away, but it was suddenly silent. I moved into the clearing from the woodland to see if it had gone or been paralysed with fear, and there was Hansel, naked in the water. We stared at each other for a long time, neither of us sure what to do.

The water made my clothes heavy as Hansel pulled me into the water, his lips crushed against mine as we embraced. Despite the added physical weight, I felt the pressure of depression lifting from me. I hated to think it, but one person made all the difference. We panted as our foreheads rested on each other.

"Why did you come back?" I asked, curious as to how someone so travelled would manage to go somewhere twice in a year.

"Why did you?"

"Loneliness was a better option." I replied, ashamed that I had no faith in the thought he might return.

"I fixed the house before you left; in case you did come back."

"I'm glad you did. It seems you know me better than I know myself."

He kissed me softly, while running his hands through my hair. I wanted to cry but then I was so damned happy to see him that all I could do was hold onto his shoulders. A thought occurred to me,

"Where are the others?"

He looked solemn and moved away. He began to dress and I left the water, shivering as the cold air hit me.

"Come, I haven't had food since this morning and we can talk at the house." He outstretched his hand to me, and I took it, deciding to throw the poison mushroom tea and its pot away.

Hansel and Gretel had laid down their disagreement once I left, and in time Gretel grew sympathetic for the obvious change in his manner. As I couldn't stop thinking of him, he couldn't stop thinking of me. What destroyed him the most, were the thoughts where I died. The same thoughts I'd had were of his death, and although they hurt they didn't rock me as much as suddenly thinking of how he might react if I were to die. Apparently, from the paleness talking of it brought on his features, the reaction would be devastating. He was as good a witch hunter as he ever had been, but the passion was not there. His mind was here, in this house he had rebuilt, thinking of simple pleasures he had never considered so often in his life. I leaned my hea don his shoulder as he spoke and I cried quiet tears for us both.

"What about you?" he asked, moving the plate from our laps.

"What about me?"

"What brought you back here?"

"I stayed in a Hamlet for a s long as I could, but my scars are a problem. People aren't very accepting. I realised there was no where I could go and find comfort but here, so I came."

"How long have you been here?"

"Some months - not many. I never expected to see you again though."

"You didn't think I'd come back for you?"

"I didn't think I could be so fortunate." I smiled at him. He pressed his lips to mine gently and for the rest of the night we lay side by side in bed, embraced and exhausted from this blessing from above.


	12. Chapter 13

That bastard Hansel managed to get under my skin. I tried – I really tried to integrate into Sohn, a nice little Hamlet, but I couldn't bring myself to stop thinking of him. At first it was because I was lonely, and the pain from our last encounter was still fresh. I decided to leave when if became apparent it was not me the people didn't like: it was the extent of my scars.

I fled back to the house in the woods, half hoping he was there, half planning to commit suicide. All thoughts were shattered as I saw the house, looking repaired yet abandoned. There was a chance someone lived there and I investigated carefully. Days became weeks and I concluded it was my house now. I learned to find peace in the loneliness there; I had been lonely in Sohn but the people were close enough to touch and it only gave me more heartache.

I often fantasised of what could have been, and what was probably impossible. I spent hours laying on the grass and envisioning how my life would be if I had accepted Hansel's offer to remain with solely him. I started working further back; if I'd never been interrupted summoning the witch; If I had chosen not to summon the witch; if I'd chosen not to help the children; if I chose a different village; if I had never been given to the witch; if I had never been abandoned by my parents to fight in that stupid war.

I had it all planned. The poison mushrooms were simmering in a pot over the fire in the house, and I was going to swim in the water a last time before I left. There are times when I believe that a demon follows me, drawing misfortune, bad luck and witches towards me; trying to kill me. I had settled that it had won, and I was giving in after some twenty years of surviving.

I walked to the stream and heard an animal. I made as much noise as possible trying to shoo it away, but it was suddenly silent. I moved into the clearing from the woodland to see if it had gone or been paralysed with fear, and there was Hansel, naked in the water. We stared at each other for a long time, neither of us sure what to do.

The water made my clothes heavy as Hansel pulled me into the water, his lips crushed against mine as we embraced. Despite the added physical weight, I felt the pressure of depression lifting from me. I hated to think it, but one person made all the difference. We panted as our foreheads rested on each other.

"Why did you come back?" I asked, curious as to how someone so travelled would manage to go somewhere twice in a year.

"Why did you?"

"Loneliness was a better option." I replied, ashamed that I had no faith in the thought he might return.

"I fixed the house before you left; in case you did come back."

"I'm glad you did. It seems you know me better than I know myself."

He kissed me softly, while running his hands through my hair. I wanted to cry but then I was so damned happy to see him that all I could do was hold onto his shoulders. A thought occurred to me,

"Where are the others?"

He looked solemn and moved away. He began to dress and I left the water, shivering as the cold air hit me.

"Come, I haven't had food since this morning and we can talk at the house." He outstretched his hand to me, and I took it, deciding to throw the poison mushroom tea and its pot away.

Hansel and Gretel had laid down their disagreement once I left, and in time Gretel grew sympathetic for the obvious change in his manner. As I couldn't stop thinking of him, he couldn't stop thinking of me. What destroyed him the most, were the thoughts where I died. The same thoughts I'd had were of his death, and although they hurt they didn't rock me as much as suddenly thinking of how he might react if I were to die. Apparently, from the paleness talking of it brought on his features, the reaction would be devastating. He was as good a witch hunter as he ever had been, but the passion was not there. His mind was here, in this house he had rebuilt, thinking of simple pleasures he had never considered so often in his life. I leaned my hea don his shoulder as he spoke and I cried quiet tears for us both.

"What about you?" he asked, moving the plate from our laps.

"What about me?"

"What brought you back here?"

"I stayed in a Hamlet for a s long as I could, but my scars are a problem. People aren't very accepting. I realised there was no where I could go and find comfort but here, so I came."

"How long have you been here?"

"Some months - not many. I never expected to see you again though."

"You didn't think I'd come back for you?"

"I didn't think I could be so fortunate." I smiled at him. He pressed his lips to mine gently and for the rest of the night we lay side by side in bed, embraced and exhausted from this blessing from above.


	13. Chapter 14

Paste your

Hansel stood concentrating on his hilltop. He had spent his life training his body for witch hunting, if he wasn't in fact witch hunting, and he had no intention of parting with that rhythm of his life. I walked to him with the letter from Ben in my hand and a parcel of lunch for us both in the other. I didn't disturb Hansel as he aimed arrows at the obstacles he had placed as far as his range could reach throughout the forestry and stood patiently waiting for this training to be done. I noticed the bow and arrow and it took several seconds for it to dawn on me; these were not his favoured bow and arrow, they were the ones he had made.

He had spent much time in recent weeks experimenting with weapons. Witch hunting requires a special set of tools he had bought or built with Gretel and Ben. It was a trade at least, a means for some money, not that we needed much. Hansel was an apt hunter and I had learned what to eat and how to eat it in this forest while I was thinking about suicide. What can I say, I got a little reckless. Hansel spied me with a swivel of his eye. He stood a little straighter, exerted a little more power and I got the feeling he was trying to impress me.

"Your scars are getting better."

"The serum's working."

He let loose his arrow, watched it soar and offered the bow to me, "Go on. Let's see what you're made of."

I eyed the weapon wearily, all of a sudden I felt like running and crying. Why is beyond me, I do believe I was extremely anxious. But Hansel was moving around me, guiding each movement and I obeyed.

"We'll just fire it up and let it go where it may." He hummed in my ear. With that he directed the arm I held the bow in, placed an arrow in my hand and guided that into position. When he told me to draw back, I drew back. He corrected my elbow. He told me to pull back even more. More still. I trembled uncontrollably and he shushed me until the trembles were as still as they were going to get (not very). "When you want to let it, go, let it go."

It took me a few irrationally terrified deep breaths but I did it, and I sagged afterword, as though I had been carrying a burden I was too weak to bear. Hansel held onto my shoulders, his thumbs rubbing circles into my skin. We watched the arrow soar into the trees and disappear.

"You know," he said, "I forgot how nervous I was shooting my first arrow until now."

I place a hand over his to acknowledge his words before I turned to face him. I was intending to reach for the lunch on the ground and the letter keeping it off the dew on the grass but Hansel held my waist and took a minute to stare wordlessly at me. We'd talked of my scars before and he leaned to kiss them. Six in total. Then he kissed my lips with a tenderness that said, you're beautiful, scars and all.

"Time for lunch already?"

I hummed the affirmative and bent for the parcels. From the hill I could see the house and two unfamiliar forms moving towards it.

"What's the matter?" Hansel asked. I drew the parcels to my chest and passed him the letter from Ben.

"Does this mention any visitors?"

"You expect me to read one of Ben's short stories at a glance? Come on."

We walked down our hill and as we got closer the strangers approached. They looked lost, desolate and battle wearied. They held hands as they approached, a man and woman both in battle armour, his hair was greying but mostly black, while hers was grey with the faintest hint of sandy blond throughout. They were aged but tough, and I wondered what had brought them here.

"Good morning," the man called to us. Hansel said nothing, he looked stern and I kept as close to him as I could without being in the way of his stride. "I am Mason and this is my wife, Olivia."

"I am Hansel and this is Bano. This is our house, can we help you?"

They shook each of our hands.

"We're looking for shelter, you may not believe us but we were thrown through the sky."

"Witches?" Hansel asked. Their faces grew a shade paler but they denied it.

"The war."

"The war?" Hansel repeated, emphasising the first word incredulously. No one came back from that war.

"Please," Olivia started, stepping forward, "All we ask of you is one night's shelter and a meal so we can try to recover. We will be on our way tomorrow."

"You fell from the sky without breaking a bone?"

"Miraculously." She said, looking away from my face. I let Hansel take point.

"Our home is small but we can offer a fire and blankets to see you through the night, it's fairly mild anyway and we don't get wildlife at our doorstep."

"We would appreciate that." Mason confirmed, stepping forward and placing his hands on Olivia's shoulders.

"Let me take you to the stream. You can bath there." I offered, seeing the dust and dirt stir under his hands.

"I'll take you." Hansel interjected. They understood; they were strangers and I was of no strength to fight them if they were dangerous. "Why don't you set up for more bread and meat, Bano?"

I nodded and headed to the house. It took five minutes to set up a basket of food and meat from the pig we had smoked, so I sat on our door step, anxiously waiting his return. When I saw him I stood and walked towards him.

"They're nice." He assured me, as though my thoughts were written on y forehead. He took my hand in his and lead me back home. "I left them to it and They'll eat when they're ready. We don't have to wait."

They sat at our little table and remarked at our industrious use of space. They repeated several times their gratitude for our hospitality and I grew to like them.

"Your face," Mason said at last, rather indelicately.

"Mason!" Olivia scolded but he waved his hand at her,

"Hush Ol'a, I wish to know."

I struggled to find words.

"Witches." Hansel answered for me. To him that was explanation enough but Mason pressed on regardless,

"What happened!?"

"Mason stop." Olivia demanded, her eyes downcast, her skin that little bit paler.

"You too, huh?" Hansel commented to her.

"We had a daughter." She said.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, thinking of those poisoned children, and of the kids I'd seen eaten.

"Don't be, it was our fault. We enlisted together, thinking we could not have children and determined to seek out some purpose. We made our country our child and we were on our way to battle when I was struck by a labour I had no notice of being fated with. Then there was little girl in our lives but we had signed ourselves away already. It was too late for an old dream."

Hansel and I shared a look. We hadn't touched the subject yet but I knew it was on his mind. He gazed at children if we ever moved through the village with amusement and longing. They still reminded me of things I should rather forget, but I would have loved to give Hansel his own family. After all the torture my body had been through, I didn't expect it to be possible.

"What is the war even about anyway?" Hansel asked. They visibly froze, as if their faculties had been suspended from their control and Hansel and I watched on gravely waiting for an answer.

"Late for an old dream." She repeated, and it became apparent she was entirely unaware she had repeated herself. Mason too seemed oblivious. "We left the child with Mason's brother and his family. Upon our return she was no longer with them. Dead, he told us, and we believed him until someone else in the village apologised for our daughter's short comings and the community's inability to do more for her.

"We were shocked, confused and after further enquiry we learned that our baby had lived with the witch as her slave. Our daughter. We would have been better off running from the war to be with her. Suffice to say we spoke our mind to Mason's brother and his foul family, even though it would have been more just to rip their wretched hearts from their bodies –"

"Olivia." Mason cautioned this time. "Long story short," he turned to Hansel and I, "We have lost at the hands of witches before."

Tears fell from her eyes and I refused to meet Hansel's significant gaze at me. He knew my story.

"I don't know what I would of have preferred," Olivia mused, "My daughter to be eaten by a witch, or her slave made free and her family... her village rejecting her."

"Would you a like a few minutes alone?" I asked calmly, my own heart racing. She nodded and Mason stood to comfort her. Hansel and I exited.

"Say something." He said, hot on my heels as I walked through the afternoon breeze straight into the woods. I intended to plough on until we were well out of the hearing range of the house and scream the sheer volume of conflict in my lungs out but I wave of nausea hit me and I was on my knees retching before I knew it.

"Wow, are you okay?"

I shook and took a moment to assess that. I was fine, so I stood and kept walking to the nearest tree. I leaned my back against it. I took a few deep breaths and waited for Hansel to come a little closer.

"You should say something to them." He said, his hand lightly resting on my waist.

"They could be anyone's parents."

"Anyone sounds a lot like you."

"There will be others a lot like me this side of the earth."

"I've chased witches a long time; there aren't."

"I don't want to give them false hope."

"It wouldn't be hope."

"Then I don't want to get hurt any more than I have been already."

"Its a risk you should take."

"But I wont."

"Then I will."

"No you won't."

"I will."

"Please don't I can't take the stress –"

"Stress? What stress, you're the healthiest I've seen you. Well, except for the vomiting over there."

"And for the last two weeks."

"I'd have noticed that."

"You've been busy with the bows and arrows."

"I'd still have noticed – Where are you going?"

"I need to be alone Hansel."

And I did. I didn't have the words for him. He hadn't accepted my reasoning and Hansel was a strong willed man, I didn't have a chance against him. And then there was the other thing.

document here...


	14. Chapter 15

"She was found making her way here." I heard Mrs O'Holly saying.

"I'm so glad someone did find her. I never knew."

"Well you do now. I want her to stay here tonight and then she has to rest in her own bed until I say otherwise."

"Thank you for everything." With that I hear her leaving and I watched him come into the room.

"I feel like hell." I said. "And I've been strung up and bled alive."

He said nothing and sat on the bed, bundling me up in his arms. I cosied in, and waited for him to speak. It must have taken the better part of ten minutes.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I saw this happening."

"Again, why didn't you tell me? I would have kept a better eye on you."

"I wanted to be pregnant, telling you would have tempted fate."

"You could have died."

I almost replied, that might be better for everyone, but I caught myself.

"I didn't think I could even conceive, forgive me for being hopeful."

"Bano," he said, moving so I would face him, and I met his eyes squarely, "I almost lost you."

"I'm sorry." I said, shocked by how hurt he looked. His voice was calm if not a little short in tone, and his body was cool as could be, but his eyes were swimming with anger and fear. He looked like he would want to say more but instead he promised to come back for me in the morning and left me with a light kiss. I guess I'd really hurt Hansel, the great impenetrable witch hunter.

Mrs O'Holly came in with her own baby.

"Come on, sit up." She commanded quietly.

"I don't think that's..." she placed the baby in my arms and sat on the bed next to me. She arranged my arms to hold it best and tried to sooth me. Thing was, I saw it coming. I wasn't upset for my loss I was tired from the shock my body had undertaken.

"Now don't cry." She said, though I wasn't going to, "And don't go thinking this baby as your own, this one is mine."

"Am I so well thought of in this village?" I asked, looking up from the child as it 'ah'd at me and fingered my plain, brown waving locks.

"You're a mystery. You live with the ex-witch hunter in the woods as strangers. You pass through town so seldom and bear scars none of us know how you received. We can only guess."

I covered the child's ears as though it could understand what I was saying and told her, quite simply, "I was captive by a witch, strung up by the throat over a pond from where she cut my skin to draw blood and store it in phials for devious witch craft."

"And he saved you." She concluded for herself, looking at me with eyes as though she at last saw me. "Shall I tell the town?"

"If you like."

"I thought witched only took children?"

"I did too." I lied, my finger tightly locked in her baby's fist. "And what is your name?"

"Brian." She answered. There was a knock at the door and Mr O'Holly opened the door only enough to see his wife and shortly after, Olivia appeared.

"I'll leave you two alone."

Olivia waited by the door as the room cleared and the door was shut.

"I'm so sorry," she said, "I would never have –"

"It's alright."

"It most certainly is not. You were in a fragile state and we barged in and brought up your own experience with witches..."

"Please don't apologise. I expected this to happen. That's why Hansel never knew."

"I know we aren't close in any form of the word, but I hate to see you like this. My daughter would be about your age if I were to guess," she moved to sit at the foot of the bed, "I have a terrible habit of seeing all girls her age like my own responsibility."

"I never knew my mother or father. Really, there's no need to look to care for me."

She gave me a sad glance that said, but I can't help myself. I wanted her to be my mother, but then how could I ever be sure? How could I quell the doubt that she was someone else's mother and I was stealing her for my own selfish wants? It was better not to host the hope at all.

"I think you'll make a wonderful mother some day."

"I barely looked after you."

"I have a feeling about it." She smiled and departed, thanking me again for mine and Hansel's hospitality. It was nice of her to say so but that was all it was, nicety.

I lay back and let sleep take me.


	15. Chapter 16

All wounds heal in time, and Hansel's took a while. He stayed in the house with me though, and made and sold his weapons. People from the village warmed to us, some hearing of our loss and offering their condolences, some interested in not only buying bow and arrow but coming to Hansel's practicing hill to learn and rehearse themselves. We still weren't close members of the community, but we weren't the subject of as much mystery and suspicion.

We moved into our second Winter together when the wolves were driven closer to our house. I say driven, because wolves had never been an issue before. Yet here they were, howling through the night, keeping us both awake.

One evening Hansel was late, and it was too cold to stay outside any longer never mind too occupied by wolves. I waited and waited until the stress threatened to kill me – I was pregnant again and so far things were looking promising there. So far. I weighed my options and decided to brave the ice and cold winds to find him. I took a bow and arrow to make me feel better – I in no way thought it would be of any use.

"Hansel!" I called every five steps or so. Right up until I heard growling of dogs and grunting of a man. The moon was bright and cast black shadows from the trees, but I could see the movement – Hansel was in a bad way. Blood shone over his temple, he favoured and arm and stooped as he stood. When he stood. I had no inclination that I could save him but I remembered all the times he had stood behind me, orchestrating my stance and basically aiming for me. It was as if he stood behind me at that moment, and moved me as he always did. I loosed an arrow and struck the wolf's flank – to my surprise! I wondered what would happen next, would it turn on me? Should I run?

It made a yowl of pain and ran. Hansel fell onto his knees and one hand. The other he kept close and I walked to him as fast as I could – the ice could have thrown my balance and rendered me useless to us both. When I reached him he clung to me for dear life and I forced him to his feet. We walked home in the wind and I put him to bed.

Safe inside, with our fire burning, the wind died down and I washed away dirt and blood from him. I stripped him of his wet clothes and though he slept, the excitement kept me up. As sleep called to me from the chair I sat in, watching over the fire and Hansel, a howl like nothing I'd heard since the wolves came penetrated my very skin. In an instant I resolved to find the place in the woods the wolves were calling home, to do what was as yet unknown to me, but I knew I would work that out eventually. I slipped into sleep.


	16. Chapter 17

I left Hansel still sleeping, looking grey and damp. I dreaded that he might have a fever and almost did not leave him, but the pull to find the wolves we strong enough to have me part with him a little while. I walked beyond his practicing range and further still, to apart of the forest I was unfamiliar with. I almost turned back when I heard the tiny whining of pups. I carefully approached, aware that the wolves would attack me if I were to be too close.

I spied the pups and the mother I'd shot at once. She was dead, sacrificing the last of her body heat to keep them warm. Tears sprang to my eyes – and though it was weak for she was only an animal that would surely kill me if she were alive now – I had orphaned those wolves. I bundled the two surviving pups into my skirt, holding them close to my chest to bring some heat back to them. Any hunter would have told me to kill them or eat them – take the mother's fur but I was no hunter. If Hansel were well he might be the one to kill them and make use of them, but he was ill and I had taken them now. I made it back to the practice clearing when I felt it and I was stopped in my tracks.

My child moved within me. I'd never felt that before. I took that as approval for rescuing the pups and enjoyed the moment for as long as I could in the biting cold. I pressed on in higher spirits about Hansel's condition, but I confess he did not get better for a long time.

Taking care of those pups kept me going. I gave them blankets in front of the fire, did exactly as the farmers in the village said about feeding and training them (I never mentioned they were wolves, just big guard dogs) and kept a watchful eye over Hansel. I honestly believe those dogs kept my baby alive too; had I been alone with Hansel's worsening condition, the stress would have certainly lost me another child. Anuk and Bambi I called them, my pet male wolves whose play-fighting almost tripped me up more times than I could shake a stick at, and who were characters all their own, were one of the best decisions I'd ever made. It was their new-found voices that heralded Gretel's arrival.

She held the hand of a young girl, who looked like a miniature of herself, and carried a baby strapped to her back. Edward followed her, pulling a cart of possessions and I whistled the command for Anuk and Bambi to shut up. The obeyed and sat at my feet obediently, shifting their weight from one foot to the other and making pining noises defiantly. I commanded them to heel and they trot at my pace towards Gretel who smiled thinly at me.

"Is Hansel practicing then?" she asked on her approach.

"No, he's very ill." I told her, "Come inside, it will be good for him."

"Abigail," she addressed the small child next to her who looked tired and defeated, "This is Bano."

I knelt in front of her. "It's lovely to meet you Abigail. You look awfully tired, shall I carry you?"

She looked to her mother who nodded and in turn nodded to me. I stretched my arms out welcoming her and hoisted her onto my hip. She felt so light. Anuk and Bambi prattled at my feet until I commanded silence and asked Gretel,

"Have travelled far?"

"Very. I'll explain when I see Hansel."

"Just head straight inside," she pushed on, "I'm afraid, Edward, you are much too big to fit in my little house.

He puffed out his bottom lip, huffed and walked to the forest. I watched after him until Gretel called to assure me he would be fine. I followed. I found Gretel standing before her brother, who was at his very worst that week, and the illness had lasted a half week longer than that, bouncing a child in her arms.

"How long has he been like this?"

"A week and a half. It gets better and then worse." I replied, letting Abigail down and letting her inspect Anuk and Bambi.

"What happened?"

"Wolf attack, one of his wounds must have been infected. I cleaned them myself but it's been cold and miserable here and I don't think there is anything else to be done for him."

"We're here to help now." She said, eying my pets.

"They're harmless." I assured her. "Hansel will be glad to see you the next time he's lucid –"

"What happened to your face?" Abigail asked.

"Nothing, Abigail." Gretel snapped patiently at her.

"But mum-"

"But nothing-"

"It's alright." I interjected.

"The forest is very dangerous." I said to Abigail, "And I learned that the hard way."

"What happened?" She asked, wide eyed.

"I try not to remember. So don't leave this house without someone to go with you, alright?"

She nodded gravely and Hansel stirred. I moved to Gretel immediately with a cup of water for him. She was still pretty steely with me but she took it gratefully and sat next to him. She balanced her child on her knee and I attended the fire. Hansel woke but was not lucid.

"I need to get some things." She said, rising and pulling her hood over her head, "Can you look after my children?"

"Of course." I answered, thinking of those poisoned souls I had taken care of almost alone. She passed me her baby who became restless immediately, and told Abigail to be good. I almost let her leave.

"What's the baby's name?" I asked her. I could only see half her face – she was angled to leave the door – and I saw a tear fall. She didn't answer me and exited.


	17. Chapter 18

Whatever Gretel spent the day brewing, was miraculous. Hansel was still ill, but he became completely lucid, and sat up in bed, his hand over mine as we faced Gretel who told us her tale. Abigal and James were asleep in make-shift cots by the hearth in front of the fire, Anuk and Bambi curled up near them protectively. Hansel had noticed, but there were more important things for him to catch up with.

"James and I were married and continued hunting witches until we had Abigail. She is three and shortly after James Jnr was born, his father took ill. He died shortly after and I stayed as long as I could but mourning isn't something I can say I am good at. I decided to come here, with family."

"I'm sorry sis'." Hansel said, his voice hoarse. "Of course you can stay. Edward and I will erect a house."

She nodded solemnly. She was as good as anyone at mourning such a loss. I could forgive her coldness towards me.

"Speaking of family," Hansel started towards me, "How are you?"

"Its about time." Gretel commented, and that struck my in the centre of my chest. I had to step outside. I leaned on our door frame and heard the conversation within.

"Bano lost our first child." Hansel said harshly.

"I didn't know, Hansel I'm-"

"Where the hell have you been? I only hear from Ben. You know exactly where I am and don't write. I thought I'd lost you for good. Where was a letter to me?"

"I didn't think you wanted to hear from me."

"Of course I did."

The door sung open and shut and Gretel was beside me.

"I'm sorry, Bano, I didn't know."

"Try two lost children." I said quietly. "He doesn't know; it would break his heart."

"I didn't mean."

"Don't apologise, I just had to go outside."

She leaned on the wall next to me and we shared a companionable silence. "How far along are you?"

"Four months."

"Your skirt hides it."

I smiled and met her eyes. "How are you and Hansel?"

"We'll be fine."

"Good. He has missed you."

She smiled at her feet. "You've taken good care of him I see, I guess I should stop hating you for separating us."

"Me?"

"Well, Hansel did it. He loves you, you know."

I smiled at my feet too.

"How will we orchestrate the space in there until he's well enough to start working on a house?"

"We'll manage." She assured me. "I'm going to see to Edward."

With that she left for the woods and I turned back inside to find Hansel staring at his niece and nephew.


End file.
